The Bacardi Bowl was a college football bowl game played seven times in Havana, Cuba, at Almandares Park and La Tropical Stadium. The games were also referred to as the Rhumba Bowl and were the foremost event of Cuba’s annual National Sports Festival. The first five occurrences matched an American college team (all from the Deep South) against Cuban universities or athletic clubs. The 1937 game featured two American universities. The 1946 game—sometimes considered the first of the Cigar Bowl games—also matched an American college team (from the Deep South) against a Cuban university.
Game results
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
! Season !! Date !! colspan="2" | Winner !! colspan="2" | Loser !! Venue !! Ref.
|-
| 1907 || December 25, 1907 || LSU ||56||University of Havana || 0 || rowspan=6 | Almandares Park • Havana, Cuba ||
|-
| 1909 || align=right|January 1, 1910 ||Cuban Athletic Club||11||Tulane || 0 ||
|-
| 1911 || align=right|January 1, 1912 || Mississippi A&M ||12|| Cuban Athletic Club || 0 ||
|-
| rowspan=2 | 1912 || December 25, 1912 || Florida ||28|| Vedado Tennis Club || 0 ||
|-
| December 28, 1912 || colspan=4 | Florida vs. Cuban Athletic Club ||
|-
| 1921 || December 31, 1921 ||Cuban Athletic Club||13||Ole Miss || 0 ||
|-
| 1936 || align=right|January 1, 1937 || colspan=4 | Auburn 7, Villanova 7 || rowspan=2 | La Tropical Stadium • Havana, Cuba ||
|-
| 1946 || align=right|December 7, 1946 || Mississippi Southern ||55||University of Havana || 0 ||
|}
game was not completed<br>
Notable Bacardi Bowl games
1907: LSU vs. University of Havana
The first Bacardi Bowl in 1907 matched Louisiana State University against the University of Havana.
1912: Florida vs. Cuban Athletic Club
The 1912 Bacardi Bowl was scheduled as a two-game series in Havana featuring the Florida Gators against squads from two different Cuban athletic clubs. It was Florida's first experience with postseason football.
The first game was held on Christmas Day, and the Gators defeated the Vedado Athletic Club 28–0. Feeling that playing under those conditions was neither fair nor safe, Pyle pulled his team off the field and was promptly arrested for violating a Cuban law prohibiting a game's suspension after spectators' money had been collected.
{| class="wikitable"
!Date Played !! colspan="2" | Winning Team !! colspan="2" | Losing Team !! Location
|-
| || U.S. Navy (USS Columbia) || 15 || University of Havana || 0 || Havana, Cuba
|-
| December 25, 1908 || Rollins College || 6 || University of Havana || 0 || Havana, Cuba
|-
| December 25, 1915 || Cuban Athletic Club || 7 || Southern College (Florida Southern College) || 6 || Havana, Cuba
|-
| January 1, 1916 || Southern College (Florida Southern College) || 47 || Cuban Athletic Club || 0 || Tampa, Florida
|-
| January 1, 1920 || Cuban Athletic Club || 6 || Stetson University || 0 || Havana, Cuba
|-
| January 1, 1923 || Rollins College || 80 || University of Havana || 0 || Orlando, Florida
|-
| January 10, 1923 || Cuban Athletic Club || 13 || American Legion (Tampa) || 0 || Havana, Cuba
|-
| December 23, 1923 || Rollins College || 59 || Havana Police || 0 || Havana, Cuba
|-
| December 25, 1923 || Rollins College || 45 || University of Havana || 0 || Havana, Cuba
|-
| December 30, 1923 || Rollins College || 31 || Cuban Athletic Club || 0 || Havana, Cuba
|-
| November 29, 1924 || Southern College (Florida Southern College) || 32 || University of Havana || 7 || Lakeland, Florida
|-
| December 6, 1924 || Southern College (Florida Southern College) || 0 || University of Havana || 0 || Tampa, Florida
|-
| January 1, 1925 || Tampa AC || 13 || University of Havana || 6 || Havana, Cuba
|-
| 1926 || U.S. Marines (Key West Leathernecks) || 13 || University of Havana || 12 || Key West, Florida
|-
| November 25, 1926 || Miami (FL) || 23 || University of Havana || 0 || Coral Gables, Florida
|-
| December 24, 1926 || Miami (FL) || 23 || University of Havana || 0 || Havana, Cuba
|-
| November 28, 1927 || Howard College (Samford University) || 20 || University of Havana || 6 || Havana, Cuba
|-
| 1928 || University of Havana || 6 || Hollywood || 0 || unknown
|-
| 1928 || University of Havana || 12 || U.S. Marines (Key West Leathernecks) || 0 || unknown
|-
| October 27, 1928 || Miami (FL) || 62 || Vedado Tennis Club || 0 || Coral Gables, Florida
|-
| November 29, 1929 || University of Florida || 9 || University of Havana || 0 || St. Petersburg, Florida
|-
| December 6, 1929 || Georgia Military Academy || 31 || Cuban Athletic Club || 6 || Atlanta, Georgia
|-
| December 15, 1934 || University of Tampa || 38 || Cuban Athletic Club || 13 || Tampa, Florida
|-
| December 30, 1934 || University of Tampa || 25 || Cuban Athletic Club || 0 || Havana, Cuba
|-
| November 11, 1938 || Rollins College || 7 || University of Havana || 6 || Orlando, Florida
|-
| November 18, 1938 || University of Tampa || 33 || University of Havana || 0 || Tampa, Florida
|-
| October 11, 1939 || Georgia Teachers College (Georgia Southern University) || 14 || University of Havana || 0 || Statesboro, Georgia
|-
| October 27, 1939 || Rollins College || 25 || University of Havana || 0 || Orlando, Florida
|-
| November 17, 1939 || Rollins College || 27 || University of Havana || 13 || Havana, Cuba
|-
| December 9, 1939 || Georgia Teachers College (Georgia Southern University) || 27 || University of Havana || 7 || Havana, Cuba
|-
| December 23, 1939 || Rollins College || 71 || University of Havana || 0 || Havana, Cuba
|-
| December 30, 1939 || University of Tampa || 28 || University of Havana || 6 || Havana, Cuba
|-
| November 21, 1944 || Miami Naval Station Center (Tars) || 30 || University of Havana || 13 || Havana, Cuba
|-
| November 26, 1944 || Chatham Field (Flyers) || 25 || University of Havana || 7 || Havana, Cuba
|-
| November 1944 || U.S. Airforce (Flying Yanks) || 7 || University of Havana || 7 || Havana, Cuba
|-
| December 2, 1944 || Presbyterian College || 34 || University of Havana || 0 || Spartanburg, South Carolina
|-
| December 1945 || University of Havana || 55 || Fort Pierce Amphibious Station (Commandos) || 20 || Havana, Cuba
|-
| October 26, 1946 || Norman Junior College (GA) || 24 || University of Havana || 0 || Norman Park, Georgia
|-
| November 9, 1946 || Alabama "B" Team || 53 || University of Havana || 18 || Dothan, Alabama
|-
| December 7, 1946 || Mississippi Southern College (University of Mississippi Southern) || 55 || University of Havana || 0 || Havana, Cuba
|-
| November 11, 1950 || Jacksonville Naval Station (Fliers) || 32 || University of Havana || 6 || Havana, Cuba
|-
| November 30, 1956 || Stetson University || 64 || University of Havana || 0 || Key West, Florida
|}
Italics denote a tie game
Other American football games in Cuba
The last organized American football game in Cuba was in 1958, when a semipro league featuring teams of Cubans and Americans played.
It would be another 45 years until Cuba would host a football game, this time featuring two American teams: in 2003, Bonita Vista High School and La Jolla High School from San Diego played at Pan-American Stadium. Due to the presence of metal boxes beyond the end lines, which was deemed a safety hazard, both coaches and the referee agreed to reduce the length of the field to 90 yards. In what was billed as the "Havana Classic", Bonita Vista defeated La Jolla, 31–22, in front of 400 people.
See also
- List of college bowl games
- List of college football games played outside the United States
References
External links
- December 1912 game program